HARTFORD, April 2 - Two New York men operating a Long Island-based contracting firm face criminal charges for allegedly operating an unregistered home improvement business and attempting to defraud older citizens with unneeded chimney repairs, Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Jr. and Wilton Police Chief Edward Kulhawik said today.

The two officials held a press conference at the Wilton Police headquarters to detail the findings of their joint investigation and alert homeowners to beware of similar situations.

"I want to thank Senator Boucher for bringing this issue to our attention," Farrell said. "Many thanks also to the consumers who promptly brought their concerns to local police, because they sounded the alarm, which was then echoed by a local fuel company. All these efforts enabled us to act quickly before these individuals could move outside of our reach."

"I commend and thank the Department of Consumer Protection and the
Wilton Police Department for their outstanding work in promptly
bringing this scam to an end," Senator Antonietta "Toni" Boucher,
(R-Wilton) said.

"Many different individuals and organizations worked to share
information, allowing this investigation and action to move forward
efficiently and effectively," Chief Kulhawik said. "I'm pleased that
our collaboration has put this operation out of business."

On February 23rd of this year, Ridgefield Police notified the
Department of Consumer Protection of a complaint from an elderly
resident who had been visited by S & H Contracting, and was urged
by the company to replace a chimney liner. Greenwich police received a
similar consumer concern and also forwarded it to the Department.

About the same time, a Wilton fuel company notified the Department that
employees of S & H Contracting had been misrepresenting themselves
as being connected to the fuel company in order to get into customers'
homes. Once inside, S&H employees offered to do so-called
"emergency repairs."

As a result of these numerous complaints to the agency and local police
departments, the Department of Consumer Protection and the Wilton
Police Department initiated an undercover operation at a single family
home in Wilton.

A senior citizen homeowner working with local police
contacted S & H Contracting to schedule an in-home appointment.

Prior to the scheduled appointment, a Town of Wilton building official
and another qualified professional contractor inspected the home's
chimneys to determine their condition, which was determined to be good.

Upon visiting the undercover home on April 1, 2009, S&H employees
Adam Joyce, age 26, and Travis Joyce, age 23, both of Babylon, New
York, inspected the home's chimneys and heating system.

They then
advised the 63-year old homeowner that the chimneys required caps, a
new crown and liner, and quoted the job at $3,200.00 after a $200.00
discount.

The homeowner agreed and signed a contract, and the men began the job immediately.

When questioned onsite by local police and the Department of Consumer
Protection investigator, neither man was able to present a valid home
improvement contractor nor salesman's registration certificate, as
required by state law.

The registration number they provided for
S&H Contracting belongs to an unrelated and legitimately registered
home improvement firm. The Joyce brothers allegedly provided another
company's registration number to customers and potential customers as
the registration number of S&H Contracting.

Travis and Adam Joyce are being charged with one (1) count of Larceny
2nd degree -- exploitation of the elderly, two (2) counts of violating
the Connecticut Home Improvement Act, two (2) counts of violating the
state's Home Solicitation Sales Act, one (1) count of tax permit
violation, one (1) count of reckless endangerment, one (1) count of
operating without a trade license, one (1) count of trade name
violation, and one (1) count of failure to obtain a building permit.
Contractors or salespersons found operating without being registered
can also be charged with other criminal charges that are applicable.

"Let scam artists and unregistered or improperly licensed contractors
take note - preying on consumers, particularly older adults, will not
be tolerated, and will be aggressively pursued," Farrell said. "Do
business fairly and legally or don't do business here."

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4 Comments

The arrests made are great, but there are many company's in Connecticut who operate illegally and the State does absolutely nothing to enforce its Home Improvement Act. Many company's employ illegal immigrants. Ever wonder why the product or service is so cheap? These company's do not pay taxes, workmans comp and demand cash payments. The stone countertop industry is an example. You really do get what you pay for. God forbid an illegal imigrant get hurt in your home. Maybe the media should do a story on immigration and the homeowners liability if one should get injured in your home. Maybe the public will be more vigilant about who they hire.

I am a chimney guy working out of Long Island and lewt me just say , " Good for these clowns "

They deserve any time they're going to get , they probably would have just hung the liner anyway, I can't even begin to tell you how many times I got to a job where the,
" Chimney was just fixed " last year , only to find out the company either ran out of liner or just couldn't figure out how to get the liner installed completely and correctly.

It angers me beyond words when I try so hard to do the right thing by all my customers and they just are to afriad to trust anyone to make any kind of decision and usually what will happen is they will choose the person with the lowest bid only to find out a year or two later the job that was done is completely wrong , then make a call to the company and they're no longer in business.

Don't be pressured by anyone anyone that is trying that hard to sell you something obviously has other concerns, not your or your families safety .

An honest guy will have no problem giving you the time you need to make a decision , 9 times out of 10 , nothing absolutely needs to be done on the spot , only under extremely rare circumstances would something need to be done on the spot .

This business is beat up and it really is sio important that chimneys be at least inspected, but people are too scared . . .it makes me sick !

I echo the belief that the lack of enforcement of the Home Improvement Act encourages many contractors to roll the dice, not register as a Home Improvement Contractor and defraud CT homeowners. An unregistered painting contractor defrauded me last year. I reported the contractor to the Glastonbury PD who investigated and confirmed the contractor was operating illegally. Nonetheless, the prosecuting attorney's office in Manchester declined to act on the complaint. This lack of regard for the CT consumer and unconscionable lack of backbone to enforce this existing law will continue to encourage contractors to defraud CT homeowners.

If the State of Connecticut really wants an effective contractor program, it would institute testing. Consumers are under the impression they are getting a licensed contractor when they see a registration number. Any one who is not a felon, breathing, and has $160.00 can be a contractor.

I was first registered in 1984, and the the two men in front of me spoke no English, but they had enough cash to become Connecticut contractors.

I once spoke to a building official that was on a committee to study testing, and they determined it was too hard to implement, but they figure out how to take the fee.

The fee is available to consumers that are scammed by registered contractors, and if they are not registered the consumer received nothing. The money the goes into the state general fund.

Until the time testing is required, the current state system itself is an example of consumer fraud.

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